According to new reports, Laura Govan has been forced to represent herself in Gilbert Arenas’ defamation suit, because her lawyer has quit.
You may recall there was a huge mess over which attorney Govan was going to have represent her against Arenas. Even the judge was confused. Apparently there was an issue with being able to afford a lawyer, so Govan had multiple lawyers handling small tasks. One of her attorneys, Michael Heicklen, who filed the anti-SLAPP motion on Govan’s behalf, says that he was only brought on to file the motion. Unfortunately, he filed it several months after its due date, which caused Govan to severely lose her case.
Now Bossip reports, Heicklen has removed himself from Govan’s legal team. Heicklen reportedly put in his notice to Arenas’ lawyer on June 7, dropping Govan as a client. The paperwork now says that Laura will be representing herself legally.
You may recall, Gilbert and Laura are battling it out in court because Gilbert says Laura leaked fake emails to blogs claiming he slept with her sister, and that he had STDs. Laura asked the judge to dismiss the case, using the anti-SLAPP motion her lawyer Michael Heicklen filed for her. Anti-SLAPP is basically a California law that protects the rights to free speech. It is supposed to be filed within 60 days, but Laura filed it 180 days later. The motion to dismiss was denied and the case goes on.
According to Bossip, the judge says that if the case were to go to trial today, Laura would likely lose. That means she would owe Gilbert a major payday.
That’s scary! I’d suggest Laura do whatever necessary to find herself a great lawyer before September.
